How to Excavate an Archaeological Test Pit Handbook Guide
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How to Excavate an Archaeological Test Pit Handbook Guide June 2013 © Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service Contents 1. Introduction 1 What is a Test Pit? 2 What am I looking for? 3 2. Health and Safety 4 3. Equipment 5 4. Step by Step Guide 6 5. Frequently Asked Questions 19 6. Further Information 22 1. Introduction First of all thank you for volunteering to take part in the Test Pit project for your village. Although it is going to involve some hard work hopefully you’re going to have fun and learn something about the past history of your house and garden, as well as the village as a whole. The project will also give you the chance to talk with the team from the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service (SCCAS) who will circulate around the test pits giving help and advice, so that you can learn a bit about what it is that professional archaeologists actually do; how they excavate and record archaeological sites, and identify finds. By the end of the two or three days you’ll be a trained amateur archaeologist! This booklet explains how to dig and record an archaeological test pit somewhere in your garden. It includes a step by side guide, together with some health and safety tips and a list of equipment you’ll need. If at any point you’re stuck or confused and need a bit of help, or even think you have found something important, then please ask one of the SCCAS archaeologists for help. Finally if by the end of the project you’re keen to get more involved in archaeology there’s also a list of further sources of information, both local and national, to help you do so. On the first morning SCCAS will hold an initial briefing at the ‘Operations Room’ for the weekend. Here you will be given a Test Pit Recording pack, project timetable and will be able to borrow any needed equipment. The Operations Room will be open during the event and everyone will be encouraged to report back their progress and findings throughout the project so that the SCCAS team can let everybody know what else is going on and allow you to watch the story of your village unfold. 1 What is a Test Pit? A Test Pit is a small archaeological excavation, consisting of a square trench measuring 1m by 1m and up to 1m deep that can dug be by hand, by anyone, in an open space in their garden. The Test Pit is dug methodically, i.e. layer by layer, and carefully recorded, with the aim of identifying evidence of past human activity, usually by finding pieces of pottery and other material, or, if you’re lucky, archaeological features such as rubbish pits, building postholes or wall foundations. While we can learn a great deal about the history of our towns and villages through study of historical documents and maps, place names, aerial photographs and so on, archaeological excavation is often the best or only way to add to or confirm the results of such research. The opportunity for large-scale excavation however, particularly within our established settlements, is usually rare and so the excavation of a collection of Test Pits, which can be squeezed in anywhere throughout a village is a good alternative. Test Pits are also a great way of allowing a community, with the help of professional archaeologists, to investigate its past history and learn a bit about how archaeological excavation works. By collating the results from all the Test Pits the archaeologists will try to establish a general picture of the origins and development of a settlement, and hopefully find out something about the people who lived there. 2 What am I looking for? Archaeological excavation aims to identify any evidence of past human activity that may be buried below ground at any given site. This evidence usually consists of features, such as buried soil layers, rubbish pits, ditches, graves or parts of former buildings such as postholes, wall foundations and floor surfaces and the finds material that has ended up within the features. Although some finds will have been deliberately buried, such as grave goods or treasure hoards, most of the finds material found by archaeologists is the discarded rubbish from the activities of everyday life and work in a settlement. Due to the small size of a Test Pit you might need a bit of luck to find a proper archaeological feature such as a pit or building but you’ll almost certainly find the bits and pieces that people have thrown away or lost over the years, mixed in both the topsoil or within buried older soil layers. Finds will consist of man-made items such as sherds of pottery, metalwork, glass and building material, as well as organic or environmental material such as pieces of animal bone or shell. If you are not sure if you should keep something then KEEP IT. It can always be discarded later at any stage during assessment and analysis by an archaeological finds specialist. 3 2. Health and Safety Anybody is welcome to take part in the event but all children under the age of 16 must be supervised at all times by a responsible adult. All participants will be asked to complete an SCCAS Volunteer form at the start of the event and, if aged between 12 and 80, will be treated as SCCAS employees for insurance purposes. First Aid Certain members of the SCCAS staff have First Aid training and will carry first aid kits. Another First Aid kit will be available at the Operations Room. You will be told at the briefing who the First Aiders are. First Aid can only be offered to those signing the volunteer form. Safe digging practices In order to dig safely please follow these simple rules Work carefully and use your common sense! Wear protective clothing, i.e gloves, sturdy footwear (steel toe-capped boots if you have them) etc. Don't dig your hole along the line of a path or other walkway. Don't dig your hole too deep (no more than 1m) and enclose with temporary fencing or cover it with something solid if it is to be left open and unattended. SCCAS has limited supplies of temporary fencing if required. Don't work too closely together - there are lots of different tasks to be done (e.g. digging, sieving, recording) so it should be possible to avoid getting in each other's way. Be aware of where people are so that you don't accidentally hit them with a spade or mattock. Don't raise tools above your shoulder height. Don't over do it. Its important to work at your own pace, at a speed you’re comfortable with. It doesn’t matter if, by the end of the project you haven’t quite finished the pit and above all its not a race. If anything is too heavy to lift get someone to help share the load. Take regular breaks/breathers. Pay due regard to the weather, ie suncream, a hat and plenty to drink or wrap up warm depending on conditions. Be aware that flints can be sharp and that there may be glass in the soil, wear gloves while digging and sieving. STOP digging if you find anything that looks like a pipe or a cable. STOP digging if you find heavily contaminated ground, ie dumps of asbestos, oil etc. 4 3. Equipment To excavate and record your test pit you will need a basic range of digging (most of which you hopefully have in your garden shed) and recording equipment. If you don’t have any of these items please try to let us know in advance as SCCAS has limited supplies of some equipment which can be loaned out at the briefing session. At the initial briefing you will be given a recording pack. This will include the following items and should be returned at the end of the project. Test Pit Record booklet and Step by Step summary sheet Project Timetable and Ordnance Survey Map extract showing your property 30cm photo scale Photo board Non-permanent and permanent marker pens Labels Other tools that you will need to try to provide include: Digging tools Spade and/or shovel Hand shovel/garden trowel Buckets/wheelbarrow Garden sieve (1cm mesh) Trowel (plasterers type, ideally with a 4”-6” blade) A sheet of plastic/tarpaulin, c. 2m x 2m – on which to put your spoil heap if you want to protect your lawn etc Recording equipment Digital camera Washing up bowl Soft nail brush/toothbrush Garden seed trays 5m length of string 2 steel hand tape measures 4 large nails/tent pegs Clipboard Pencils, rubber, sharpener 5 4. Step by Step Guide It may sound complicated but excavating an archaeological Test Pit is quite easy, and hopefully fun. By following this Step by Step guide you will dig and record your pit properly to a set standard. This will help us to compare all the pits at the end of the project and allow an overall report on the project to be produced. A summary of this guide will be included with the Test Pit Record booklet for easy reference. SCCAS archaeologists will be making regular visits to all the Test Pits so please ask for help and advice if you are uncertain of what to do. If you can please try to bring your finds, records and camera to the Operations Room at least once a day so we can keep everyone updated.